(written Monday, posted Wednesday)
APD, the title is for you. I thought you’d like it. Went w/ a HoH theme throughout. I do think you could get a sunburn out here this week if you put your mind to it.
The warm weather is quite dissimilar from the last time I was out here in the winter. I might have to give that the “Life Episode” treatment sometime. (OK. Long story short … tbKMD’s family had Dolberry standing out on a major Phoenix thoroughfare holding a sign in my short sleeves in a 40 degree rain. Considering the downwash & spray created by the cars speeding by at 50 mph, the wind chill wet bulb temperature was probably ~25-30. I think it was some sort of hazing ceremony.) Today it was an easy 70 w/ a satisfying sun.
Conference is fine so far. Seen a number of old colleagues. They’d probably say the same about me.
I’m surprised how many memories I have of Phoenix. They all sort of radiated down riding back on the shuttle bus, gazing out the empty back of the bus at the South Mountains. Warm replays of leaving the Valley the first time, riding back to St. Louis w/ John, Beth, and Bridget … crying silently behind sunglasses halfway to New Mexico dreading a summer away from tbKMD.
(we were children then)
It was the first time I met most of tbKMD’s family. Who knows what they thought of Dolberry, but here’s what I remember thinking about them. They were kind of scary.
(footprints in the sand)
It’s one of the happiest blessings of my life that those scary people accepted me as part of their family. Eventually all of them became less scary. It took Mary the longest. Part of it was her tape player which repeated eight Garth Brooks songs over and over in a first day programmer’s loop. Part of it was her tenacious love for her daughters. It was as obvious then as it is now that tbKMD deserves way more than what she got. (No tradebacks!) Over time though, my relationship w/ Mary became something that I really appreciated. She laughed at all my lousy jokes & I did the same for hers. And it was genuine laughter. Nobody could make more smiles w/ less material than Mary. And during that one Chicago spring where Dolberry kinda lost it … Mary straightened me out w/ a simple reminder that nothing was going to happen that day that God & I couldn’t get through together. Before I knew it, we were good friends.
(and like that sand through our hands go our grandest plans)
The year she was sick went like a blur. There was sudden bad but uncertain news. Then it got worse. For a while the medicine worked, but then it didn’t. And we shared lots of happy times. And there were lots of nice talks and visits. And we took pictures in the fallen leaves and with new puppies. And right after that APD & I were out standing on the driveway under a halo-wrapped moon and she was gone.
(and through the cloud of death we find our way back home)
And sitting here in the Valley of the Sun, I selfishly wish I could go back in time and live it all over again. I’d do some things different (see summer jobs entry) but mostly just to experience it all over again. It's been too fun. Like always, I’m just so grateful for all the people in my life, the ones who are on the other side and the ones still here.
(the end … is not the end)
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
You know what I think?
I think Ben Rothelisberger didn't suffer a concussion at all last week. I think he was so bored playing against the Browns ... that he fell asleep in the middle of the game.
I think that 2009 has a chance to be a pretty good year, if I put my mind to it.
I think that APD was right about House of Heroes. I think that their album ended up being my favorite disc of the whole year. See musical widget to the right.
I think that Willy Taveras is an upgrade over Corey Patterson. I think that the goofy singer currently vamping about on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve would be an upgrade over Corey Patterson ... even w/ all the makeup.
I think I shouldn't have eaten so many Cheeze Puffs earlier this evening.
I think I want to get in better shape. I think I want to do 4 triathlons this year.
I think I'm the only one up in our house right now.
I think God made me to do something. I think I am slow, but I think I will one day figure out what it is.
I think I just saw a commercial where a lady karate chopped an oversized donut and sprinkles sprayed all over.
I think I've stayed up too late.
I think I better wake up everyone who wanted to see the first seconds of 2009.
I think I like you DCV reader.
I think therefore I am?
I think, but I think it's better to do than think.
I think I'll see you next year.
I think that 2009 has a chance to be a pretty good year, if I put my mind to it.
I think that APD was right about House of Heroes. I think that their album ended up being my favorite disc of the whole year. See musical widget to the right.
I think that Willy Taveras is an upgrade over Corey Patterson. I think that the goofy singer currently vamping about on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve would be an upgrade over Corey Patterson ... even w/ all the makeup.
I think I shouldn't have eaten so many Cheeze Puffs earlier this evening.
I think I want to get in better shape. I think I want to do 4 triathlons this year.
I think I'm the only one up in our house right now.
I think God made me to do something. I think I am slow, but I think I will one day figure out what it is.
I think I just saw a commercial where a lady karate chopped an oversized donut and sprinkles sprayed all over.
I think I've stayed up too late.
I think I better wake up everyone who wanted to see the first seconds of 2009.
I think I like you DCV reader.
I think therefore I am?
I think, but I think it's better to do than think.
I think I'll see you next year.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Life Episodes: The Hospital Laundry
In tonight's episode of "Life Episodes" ... that very special segment we sometimes run here at the DCV ... you know the one where we document the most memorable times in Dolberry's life ... (no? seriously? look back at the archives!) ... we're going to take a look back at the summer I worked at the Humana Southeast Regional Laundry. Basically, it was the summer I spent living the life of a John Steinbeck character.
(Have you ever noticed that the DCV uses a lot of ellipses ... those things right there? It's because we've lost confidence in how to use commas and semicolons. Wikipedia implies that Dolberry is on solid ground in using this device to indicate a pause in thought. So there.)
Anyway, here are my 11 most favorite jobs I've ever had (in the beloved countdown format). And please don't misunderstand ... I do not like work in any format really. So, by "favorite", I really mean "least loathsome". And by "job", I mean somebody paid me (or pays me) to do it.
11 - Research Assistant at University of Chicago
10 - Environmental Something or Another at MCNC
9 - Babysitting
8 - Sticking Random Labels on Random Forms Drone for Standard Register
7 - Environmental Protection Specialist at EPA, Region 5
6 - Modeling Director at LADCO
5 - Maintenance Worker at the Executive Inn
4 - Umpire for Hikes Point Optimist baseball
3 - Physical Scientist @ NOAA/EPA (esp. when it involves 5-day weekends like right now)
2 - Lifeguard at Woodhaven
1 - Vacation Sales Representative for Nabisco
The only job that did not make the list was the one my dear mother got me one summer at a hospital laundry. Apparently she had an "in" with someone who ran this slave labor camp in the Bluegrass Industrial Park which was conveniently located about 5 miles from our house. Dolberry doesn't remember exactly how his mom knew the Stalinesque supervisor of the laundry. I think it involved Jazzercise.
Anyway, to this point, Dolberry had done jobs #2, #4, #5, #8, and #9 ... all of which complied with basic OSHA standards for worker safety. And really Dolberry was ok with a third year of spending 15-20 hours of each summer week, avoiding the sun and warding off girls at the pool, but Mom convinced me that $0.35 less per hour was a good tradeoff for the opportunity to work 40-hour weeks (more on this later).
The summer before I'd been a maintenance worker at a hotel in Louisville (the Executive Inn). This was a good job ... in the cushy variety that I favor when it comes to occupations. Mr Luersen, a neighbor, had gotten me the job. My "maintenance" duties consisted of:
1) mowing the lawn (easy),
2) watering flowers (easier), and
3) drinking unlimited free soda with the crew in our break room (easiest).
(It is also at this job that I learned one of my favorite quotes ever, from our foreman: "We didn't get much done today, but will give'r hell tomorrow.")
So, I show up for the first day at the laundry expecting to meet some new friends and earn a few bucks ... and get my caffeine fix for the summer.
And this is no exaggeration ... I was so exhausted by the noon lunch break I put my head down on the lunch break table and slept away my 30 minute reprieve from the floor. And 15 minutes of the morning was spent in orientation.
It was the most awful job you can imagine. Go ahead ... imagine the worst job you can think of ... I'll wait ...
Yeah, this was way worse than that.
One bad thing about a hospital laundry is that people who go to a hospital often do not maintain the same hygiene level that folks outside hospitals do. I guess that's why they're in the hospital. I don't know ... I'm not a doctor. So, they bleed on stuff. They throw up on stuff. They pee on stuff. And worse. I know what you're saying ... "Well they throw all that stuff away." No, my friend, they do not. Or at least they didn't 20 years ago. They sent it to the Bluegrass Industrial Park and insisted that people making $3.55 an hour restore this stuff to its original luster. This was in the early days of AIDS but before the term "biohazard" had been coined. You'd often see needles in the incoming baskets.
Another bad thing about a hospital laundry is that there is no air conditioning. My job was to take the clothes out of the industrial washers and put them in the industrial dryers. The washers provided a nice tropical humidity and the dryers added a nice Saharan touch that combined to put heat indexes up into the 110s in the environs where I spent 8 to 9 to 10 to 11 hours a day.
That was another bad thing about the hospital laundry. You never knew when you were going home. Basically, you worked until the trucks quit bringing dirty laundry. We didn't get overtime, though. Everyday was 8 hours on the timecard. For the life of me, I still don't see how that could have been even close to legal.
At the end of that first lunch, one of my co-workers roused me out of my labor-induced coma and encouraged me that I would get used to it. I guess that was one of the nice things about the hospital laundry ... my co-workers. Dolberry was definitely the outlier ... the college boy ... the kid who knew the boss (as evidenced by he acknowledged me at least 2-3 times that summer) ... the boy who would be out of here in three months. But they accepted me. That's either a testament to the basic goodness of the common working person or a testament to the fact that Dolberry is just so darned likeable. And while there were definitely some lifers on the crew, there was a heavy rotation. So much so, that by August I was one of the veterans. You'd ask someone at lunch "Where's Tommy?" and they'd say "What? Didn't you see the news last night? I TOLD him that First National Bank ATMs had cameras. Idiot!"
Anyway, by the end of the summer I was in awesome shape. Best shape of my life. Was anxious to get back to SLU for my junior season of cross-country. Sadly, they canceled the program that fall so they could have more women sports. Seriously?
And as I look back on this, Dolberry is puzzled. I learned a valuable lesson about hard work that summer. I learned that for whatever reason, I had started life leading off 3rd base while some were still in the batting box. The blessings that I'd been given (loving parents, nice house, good schools, passably tolerable sisters, supreme intelligence, and overpowering charisma among others) ... maybe hadn't been bestowed in an equal manner on everyone else. That some people have to work incredibly hard to narrow out what many would consider to be a meager existence. The puzzling thing is that this seems like a lesson that the fatherly El Cueto would have tried to instill. Instead he got me the job where I drank soda and ate Oreos (the next two summers) and it was La Cueta that got me this job. One thing's for sure, I never complained again about her potato soup after that summer.
Writing all this down made me feel a little guilty ... not because the prose here is achingly beautiful ... which it is ... but because I know there are millions of people today working laundry-like jobs.
Sometimes, it seems like being thankful isn't enough for all the blessings you've been given.
Happy T-giving to all DCV readers!
(Have you ever noticed that the DCV uses a lot of ellipses ... those things right there? It's because we've lost confidence in how to use commas and semicolons. Wikipedia implies that Dolberry is on solid ground in using this device to indicate a pause in thought. So there.)
Anyway, here are my 11 most favorite jobs I've ever had (in the beloved countdown format). And please don't misunderstand ... I do not like work in any format really. So, by "favorite", I really mean "least loathsome". And by "job", I mean somebody paid me (or pays me) to do it.
11 - Research Assistant at University of Chicago
10 - Environmental Something or Another at MCNC
9 - Babysitting
8 - Sticking Random Labels on Random Forms Drone for Standard Register
7 - Environmental Protection Specialist at EPA, Region 5
6 - Modeling Director at LADCO
5 - Maintenance Worker at the Executive Inn
4 - Umpire for Hikes Point Optimist baseball
3 - Physical Scientist @ NOAA/EPA (esp. when it involves 5-day weekends like right now)
2 - Lifeguard at Woodhaven
1 - Vacation Sales Representative for Nabisco
The only job that did not make the list was the one my dear mother got me one summer at a hospital laundry. Apparently she had an "in" with someone who ran this slave labor camp in the Bluegrass Industrial Park which was conveniently located about 5 miles from our house. Dolberry doesn't remember exactly how his mom knew the Stalinesque supervisor of the laundry. I think it involved Jazzercise.
Anyway, to this point, Dolberry had done jobs #2, #4, #5, #8, and #9 ... all of which complied with basic OSHA standards for worker safety. And really Dolberry was ok with a third year of spending 15-20 hours of each summer week, avoiding the sun and warding off girls at the pool, but Mom convinced me that $0.35 less per hour was a good tradeoff for the opportunity to work 40-hour weeks (more on this later).
The summer before I'd been a maintenance worker at a hotel in Louisville (the Executive Inn). This was a good job ... in the cushy variety that I favor when it comes to occupations. Mr Luersen, a neighbor, had gotten me the job. My "maintenance" duties consisted of:
1) mowing the lawn (easy),
2) watering flowers (easier), and
3) drinking unlimited free soda with the crew in our break room (easiest).
(It is also at this job that I learned one of my favorite quotes ever, from our foreman: "We didn't get much done today, but will give'r hell tomorrow.")
So, I show up for the first day at the laundry expecting to meet some new friends and earn a few bucks ... and get my caffeine fix for the summer.
And this is no exaggeration ... I was so exhausted by the noon lunch break I put my head down on the lunch break table and slept away my 30 minute reprieve from the floor. And 15 minutes of the morning was spent in orientation.
It was the most awful job you can imagine. Go ahead ... imagine the worst job you can think of ... I'll wait ...
Yeah, this was way worse than that.
One bad thing about a hospital laundry is that people who go to a hospital often do not maintain the same hygiene level that folks outside hospitals do. I guess that's why they're in the hospital. I don't know ... I'm not a doctor. So, they bleed on stuff. They throw up on stuff. They pee on stuff. And worse. I know what you're saying ... "Well they throw all that stuff away." No, my friend, they do not. Or at least they didn't 20 years ago. They sent it to the Bluegrass Industrial Park and insisted that people making $3.55 an hour restore this stuff to its original luster. This was in the early days of AIDS but before the term "biohazard" had been coined. You'd often see needles in the incoming baskets.
Another bad thing about a hospital laundry is that there is no air conditioning. My job was to take the clothes out of the industrial washers and put them in the industrial dryers. The washers provided a nice tropical humidity and the dryers added a nice Saharan touch that combined to put heat indexes up into the 110s in the environs where I spent 8 to 9 to 10 to 11 hours a day.
That was another bad thing about the hospital laundry. You never knew when you were going home. Basically, you worked until the trucks quit bringing dirty laundry. We didn't get overtime, though. Everyday was 8 hours on the timecard. For the life of me, I still don't see how that could have been even close to legal.
At the end of that first lunch, one of my co-workers roused me out of my labor-induced coma and encouraged me that I would get used to it. I guess that was one of the nice things about the hospital laundry ... my co-workers. Dolberry was definitely the outlier ... the college boy ... the kid who knew the boss (as evidenced by he acknowledged me at least 2-3 times that summer) ... the boy who would be out of here in three months. But they accepted me. That's either a testament to the basic goodness of the common working person or a testament to the fact that Dolberry is just so darned likeable. And while there were definitely some lifers on the crew, there was a heavy rotation. So much so, that by August I was one of the veterans. You'd ask someone at lunch "Where's Tommy?" and they'd say "What? Didn't you see the news last night? I TOLD him that First National Bank ATMs had cameras. Idiot!"
Anyway, by the end of the summer I was in awesome shape. Best shape of my life. Was anxious to get back to SLU for my junior season of cross-country. Sadly, they canceled the program that fall so they could have more women sports. Seriously?
And as I look back on this, Dolberry is puzzled. I learned a valuable lesson about hard work that summer. I learned that for whatever reason, I had started life leading off 3rd base while some were still in the batting box. The blessings that I'd been given (loving parents, nice house, good schools, passably tolerable sisters, supreme intelligence, and overpowering charisma among others) ... maybe hadn't been bestowed in an equal manner on everyone else. That some people have to work incredibly hard to narrow out what many would consider to be a meager existence. The puzzling thing is that this seems like a lesson that the fatherly El Cueto would have tried to instill. Instead he got me the job where I drank soda and ate Oreos (the next two summers) and it was La Cueta that got me this job. One thing's for sure, I never complained again about her potato soup after that summer.
Writing all this down made me feel a little guilty ... not because the prose here is achingly beautiful ... which it is ... but because I know there are millions of people today working laundry-like jobs.
Sometimes, it seems like being thankful isn't enough for all the blessings you've been given.
Happy T-giving to all DCV readers!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Dolberry's Law
The order of the world is established through a system of laws. Without the controlling influence of laws, it is easy to speculate that humanity would rapidly disintegrate into a chaotic mess. Laws can originate from many sources. The first ones were divine, they've been embedded in our psyches for generations. ("Love your God. Love your neighbor.") Some come through a legislative or deliberative process and their wisdom is borne out over decades. ("Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.") Some laws might be needed for a time, but circumstances eventually relegate it to obsolescence. According to dumblaws.com, in the State of Kentucky one may not dye a duckling blue and offer it for sale unless more than six are for sale at once.
Dolberry has always liked that category of "laws" that naturally spring from human observation and persist because of their truth. The most famous of these types of laws is the rather pessimistic Murphy's Law. Another famous one is Moore's Law. I've spent the last month ruminating over another law that I think could radically reshape the way sports fans watch and communicate about their passion. In typical Dolberry modesty, I propose it be called Dolberry's Law.
Dolberry's Law reads as follows: "As a sports fan, you may only claim credit for championships that were won during your lifetime and during a period in which you actively rooted for that team."
As we move into the Final Four and Opening Day of baseball season, it is perhaps fitting that we now gently admonish the two groups that I think will be most affected by Dolberry's Law, i.e., New York Yankees fans and U of K basketball fans.
When we were in Sarasota watching the Reds spank the Yankees, I overheard the following snippet from a conversation between a group of grumpy (& prolifically profane) 20-something Yankees fans ... "talk to me when you've won 26 World Series instead of four." (Actually, the Reds have won five, but I wasn't going to interject.) According to Dolberry's Law these guys are actually only entitled to take credit for four WS wins (96, 98, 99, 00). As a 41-yr old Reds fan, I'm entitled to gloat about 3 WS wins (75, 76, 90). Four vs. three is not a huge advantage, certainly not one worth boasting about.
The biggest category of fans misleadingly padding their championship stats are Wildcat basketball fans who continuously trumpet their seven titles. Unless you were born before 1950, you are not eligible to take credit for the titles in 48, 49, 51, & 58. So UK fans of my age can legitimately take credit for only three. (U of L has two over the same period.) So the next time you run across a UK fan, watch out for them drooling chewing tobacco on your shoes and admonish them with Dolberry's Law if they try to take credit for championships won when a whole race of Americans weren't even allowed to participate in the sport.
And just so Dolberry is not accused of making the law for his own use, please realize that I'm losing credit for Saint Louis University's all-time leading 10 soccer titles between 1959 and 1973. Using the "actively rooted" section of Dolberry's Law, I would only be eligible for any titles that the glorious Billikens won that one Saturday night I rode a bus out to some crazily far away western St. Louis suburb to watch a 0-0 tie. (Actually, Dolberry was probably only eligible for maybe 10 minutes of the 90 minutes of gameplay.)
C-A-R-D-S!
Dolberry has always liked that category of "laws" that naturally spring from human observation and persist because of their truth. The most famous of these types of laws is the rather pessimistic Murphy's Law. Another famous one is Moore's Law. I've spent the last month ruminating over another law that I think could radically reshape the way sports fans watch and communicate about their passion. In typical Dolberry modesty, I propose it be called Dolberry's Law.
Dolberry's Law reads as follows: "As a sports fan, you may only claim credit for championships that were won during your lifetime and during a period in which you actively rooted for that team."
As we move into the Final Four and Opening Day of baseball season, it is perhaps fitting that we now gently admonish the two groups that I think will be most affected by Dolberry's Law, i.e., New York Yankees fans and U of K basketball fans.
When we were in Sarasota watching the Reds spank the Yankees, I overheard the following snippet from a conversation between a group of grumpy (& prolifically profane) 20-something Yankees fans ... "talk to me when you've won 26 World Series instead of four." (Actually, the Reds have won five, but I wasn't going to interject.) According to Dolberry's Law these guys are actually only entitled to take credit for four WS wins (96, 98, 99, 00). As a 41-yr old Reds fan, I'm entitled to gloat about 3 WS wins (75, 76, 90). Four vs. three is not a huge advantage, certainly not one worth boasting about.
The biggest category of fans misleadingly padding their championship stats are Wildcat basketball fans who continuously trumpet their seven titles. Unless you were born before 1950, you are not eligible to take credit for the titles in 48, 49, 51, & 58. So UK fans of my age can legitimately take credit for only three. (U of L has two over the same period.) So the next time you run across a UK fan, watch out for them drooling chewing tobacco on your shoes and admonish them with Dolberry's Law if they try to take credit for championships won when a whole race of Americans weren't even allowed to participate in the sport.
And just so Dolberry is not accused of making the law for his own use, please realize that I'm losing credit for Saint Louis University's all-time leading 10 soccer titles between 1959 and 1973. Using the "actively rooted" section of Dolberry's Law, I would only be eligible for any titles that the glorious Billikens won that one Saturday night I rode a bus out to some crazily far away western St. Louis suburb to watch a 0-0 tie. (Actually, Dolberry was probably only eligible for maybe 10 minutes of the 90 minutes of gameplay.)
C-A-R-D-S!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
BREAKING BLOG NEWS: Bus Accident in Apex
The bus I was riding this morning was involved in an accident. A Chevy S10 pulled out in front of the bus & we hit it at 35-40 mph. Amazingly, despite all the glass being blown out of the pickup & the whole driver's side being crumpled in, the truck driver walked away w/ only an apparent concussion. I was fine. Banged my knee on the seat in front of me, but hardly even sore.
Update: (not really all that much to this story)
I'd just gotten on the bus, gotten seated, & was opening up the paper when I could feel the bus slamming on the brakes. I looked up ... there was a car in front of us ... and there was no way we were going to miss it. We hit the truck right in the driver's side door. It blew his back window out, blew out at least one of his tires, & brought us to a quick stop as well. I slid up my seat whacking my right knee on the plastic seat in front of me. No real big deal for the bus. (I was the only one on it beside the driver.)
Apparently the driver thought the bus was going to make a right turn and went ahead and turned in front of us. He said the bus had his turn signal on. Actually, I guess, the bus had its flashers on, still from crossing train tracks just before picking me up.
I got "interviewed" by the same police officer from the deer incident (she didn't recognize me), but I didn't really see anything. All total, 1 fire truck, 1 EMS truck, 1 Fire/Rescue, and 1 police car responded. Every one was very nice & professional. The bus driver did a good job too, though he was clearly shaken up.
They said the truck driver probably had a concussion. He was trying to call his wife, but couldn't remember her number. I really don't know how he wasn't more badly hurt. God was watching out for him no doubt.
Update: (not really all that much to this story)
I'd just gotten on the bus, gotten seated, & was opening up the paper when I could feel the bus slamming on the brakes. I looked up ... there was a car in front of us ... and there was no way we were going to miss it. We hit the truck right in the driver's side door. It blew his back window out, blew out at least one of his tires, & brought us to a quick stop as well. I slid up my seat whacking my right knee on the plastic seat in front of me. No real big deal for the bus. (I was the only one on it beside the driver.)
Apparently the driver thought the bus was going to make a right turn and went ahead and turned in front of us. He said the bus had his turn signal on. Actually, I guess, the bus had its flashers on, still from crossing train tracks just before picking me up.
I got "interviewed" by the same police officer from the deer incident (she didn't recognize me), but I didn't really see anything. All total, 1 fire truck, 1 EMS truck, 1 Fire/Rescue, and 1 police car responded. Every one was very nice & professional. The bus driver did a good job too, though he was clearly shaken up.
They said the truck driver probably had a concussion. He was trying to call his wife, but couldn't remember her number. I really don't know how he wasn't more badly hurt. God was watching out for him no doubt.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #1
1. U2
Reasons why U2 is better than every other band of the 1980's:
a) The songs. There are about 20-30 U2 songs that make Dolberry very happy whenever he hears them. (I'll list them under "best songs".)
b) There was never a better video than U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" where they were at Red Rocks outside Denver. A storm rolls in. You can see the band's breath as Bono waves his white flag and screams his frustration "I'm so sick of it!" He was sick of the violence in Northern Ireland and 1983 Dolberry was sick of doing homework, taking out the trash, or having girls not lining up to date him. Nevertheless, we were kindred spirits against cruel outside forces. (Video added to sidebar.)
c) No other band of the 80's played a concert in St. Louis MO in 1987 on the same night as the 6th game of the World Series (Twins - Cardinals) and sucked up to the crowd by having their lead singer come out emblazoned in a Cardinals jacket and hat (which he threw to the crowd).
d) More than any other "star" I know, U2's Bono has leveraged his fame to do something other than general self-indulgence. Personally, Dolberry thinks he's done almost entirely good things which is an added bonus.
e) The Edge's guitar sound.
f) U2's Super Bowl appearance which paid tribute to the 9/11 victims while reaffirming that the US and people of good faith everywhere will not bow down to evil.
g) My Dad once said, while demanding that early U2 be turned off, that "this is awful" & "those guys will never amount to anything". It is, to my knowledge, the only time my dad was ever wrong about anything. (For the record, my mom was only wrong once as well ... thinking potato soup was edible.)
h) I heard Bono say once, "Quit asking God to bless what you're doing. Instead, find out what He's doing and do that. It's already blessed."
i) I like how U2 rebounded from a period in which they thought songs about this citrus fruit were good ideas. I like the fact that they tried that whole weird mid-90's Pop Mart thing ... even if I never got it. (Others 80s bands rebounded, but not to the same level as U2.)
j) U2 is from Ireland. Dolberry ancesters are from Ireland.
k) I like the fact that U2's absence from Live Earth was advocated by the antiGores as evidence that the concept of global warming is somehow flawed. (They're recording a new album in Africa at present.)
l) I like the fact that when U2 was starting out they claimed "I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me."
m) I like that U2 is so into America (our strengths, as well as our failings)
n) I like the fact that there's no better song to play on your headset while walking on the beach on a grey cloudy day than "The Unforgettable Fire". Seriously, I think that's one of the best experiences one can have on Earth.
o) I like how U2 usually opens "Where the Streets Have No Name" w/ a snippet from one of the Psalms (e.g.: Ps 116-12-13).
p) Bono's 80's hair, while widely mocked, is still a target that to which Dolberry aspires.
q) I like the fact that the Edge so admired Stuart Adamson and paid a touching tribute to him upon his death.
r) I like the fact that Bono's been married to his wife for 25 years.
s) I liked the U2 appearance on the Simpsons and that Monty Burns thinks they're "wankers".
t) I like how U2 pretty much carried both "Do They Know Its Christmas" and Live Aid.
u) Who knows to what degree, but it's pretty impressive that a band would have any role in bringing warring parties to peace as U2 did in Northern Ireland.
v) I like the fact that U2 claims to be the best band in the world.
w) I like the fact that U2 has stuck together all these years. Not just the band, but it seems like most of their team members have stuck together all these years.
Best songs: Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, Walk On, Until the End of the World, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Beautiful Day, New Years Day, The Unforgettable Fire, Vertigo, The Fly, I Will Follow, With or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, One, In God's Country, October, Gloria, Wake Up Dead Man, Elevation, Out of Control, All I Want Is You, Bullet the Blue Sky, etc., etc.
Worst songs: Lemon
Reasons why U2 is better than every other band of the 1980's:
a) The songs. There are about 20-30 U2 songs that make Dolberry very happy whenever he hears them. (I'll list them under "best songs".)
b) There was never a better video than U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" where they were at Red Rocks outside Denver. A storm rolls in. You can see the band's breath as Bono waves his white flag and screams his frustration "I'm so sick of it!" He was sick of the violence in Northern Ireland and 1983 Dolberry was sick of doing homework, taking out the trash, or having girls not lining up to date him. Nevertheless, we were kindred spirits against cruel outside forces. (Video added to sidebar.)
c) No other band of the 80's played a concert in St. Louis MO in 1987 on the same night as the 6th game of the World Series (Twins - Cardinals) and sucked up to the crowd by having their lead singer come out emblazoned in a Cardinals jacket and hat (which he threw to the crowd).
d) More than any other "star" I know, U2's Bono has leveraged his fame to do something other than general self-indulgence. Personally, Dolberry thinks he's done almost entirely good things which is an added bonus.
e) The Edge's guitar sound.
f) U2's Super Bowl appearance which paid tribute to the 9/11 victims while reaffirming that the US and people of good faith everywhere will not bow down to evil.
g) My Dad once said, while demanding that early U2 be turned off, that "this is awful" & "those guys will never amount to anything". It is, to my knowledge, the only time my dad was ever wrong about anything. (For the record, my mom was only wrong once as well ... thinking potato soup was edible.)
h) I heard Bono say once, "Quit asking God to bless what you're doing. Instead, find out what He's doing and do that. It's already blessed."
i) I like how U2 rebounded from a period in which they thought songs about this citrus fruit were good ideas. I like the fact that they tried that whole weird mid-90's Pop Mart thing ... even if I never got it. (Others 80s bands rebounded, but not to the same level as U2.)
j) U2 is from Ireland. Dolberry ancesters are from Ireland.
k) I like the fact that U2's absence from Live Earth was advocated by the antiGores as evidence that the concept of global warming is somehow flawed. (They're recording a new album in Africa at present.)
l) I like the fact that when U2 was starting out they claimed "I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me."
m) I like that U2 is so into America (our strengths, as well as our failings)
n) I like the fact that there's no better song to play on your headset while walking on the beach on a grey cloudy day than "The Unforgettable Fire". Seriously, I think that's one of the best experiences one can have on Earth.
o) I like how U2 usually opens "Where the Streets Have No Name" w/ a snippet from one of the Psalms (e.g.: Ps 116-12-13).
p) Bono's 80's hair, while widely mocked, is still a target that to which Dolberry aspires.
q) I like the fact that the Edge so admired Stuart Adamson and paid a touching tribute to him upon his death.
r) I like the fact that Bono's been married to his wife for 25 years.
s) I liked the U2 appearance on the Simpsons and that Monty Burns thinks they're "wankers".
t) I like how U2 pretty much carried both "Do They Know Its Christmas" and Live Aid.
u) Who knows to what degree, but it's pretty impressive that a band would have any role in bringing warring parties to peace as U2 did in Northern Ireland.
v) I like the fact that U2 claims to be the best band in the world.
w) I like the fact that U2 has stuck together all these years. Not just the band, but it seems like most of their team members have stuck together all these years.
Best songs: Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, Walk On, Until the End of the World, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Beautiful Day, New Years Day, The Unforgettable Fire, Vertigo, The Fly, I Will Follow, With or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, One, In God's Country, October, Gloria, Wake Up Dead Man, Elevation, Out of Control, All I Want Is You, Bullet the Blue Sky, etc., etc.
Worst songs: Lemon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)